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poorrichardslegacy · 4 years

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Kacxa Week 2020 Day 3 - Acxa & Keith & Krolia

It Takes a Village

SUMMARY: Keith and Acxa discover that they are far better equipped to face galactic tyrants, Robeasts, and magical creatures than they are to take on the responsibilities and the frustrations of dealing with two of the most challenging creatures in the universe. They soon find comfort in the power of family and are reminded of the reasons they fell in love.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26854759

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Teen and Up Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Acxa/Keith (Voltron) Characters: Acxa (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Krolia (Voltron), Original Child Character(s), Original Galran Character(s), Keith's Family (Voltron) Additional Tags: Kacxa Week 2020, Family Issues, Family Dynamics, Grandchildren

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Acxa is shellshocked and on sensory overload. It seems that motherhood is anything but the idyllic experience she dreamed about.

She is at her wits end.

When settled and well-behaved, her one phoeb old twin daughters Mireya and Cataleya are the picture of serene beauty. But most of the time, they are two little devils. Acxa insists that no one will be raising her daughters except her and Keith. She wants them to know their mother and father, and she wants them to be instilled with the values she and Keith share. A beautiful idea, but implementing it comes with a steep price.

A typical day for the frazzled new mother looks something like this. Get up between 3 and 4 am to breastfeed the little barracudas. Keith sleeps through that exercise, telling his wife that he is not properly equipped to feed them that way. Irked by her husband’s flippant response she makes him burp one of the girls as a way of ‘bonding’ with them, an exercise which frequently results in Keith wearing their breakfast on his shoulders and down his back. After sending her husband to the showers to clean up, she changes diapers then does her best to settle them back down. They stay down long enough for her to wolf down breakfast before colic kicks in and both are screaming at the top of their lungs. Keith does his best to help her, but his duties as Emperor at the Galra Royal Palace and at Parliament pull him away, often leaving his frazzled wife to deal with the children on her own.

This cycle will rinse and repeat about four times per day (minus Keith) before he returns and takes over from her for the evening. Acxa catches three hours of sleep before waking to check on not only the girls, but her now equally frazzled husband.

Despite his pleas to get a full-time Dayak to help them, Acxa steadfastly refuses. Her mother raised her by herself with no one to help her. She is determined to do the same with her children.

Not knowing what to do and fearing for his wife’s sanity (and his if he is completely honest about it), Keith finally reaches out to the one person he thinks can help them restore order.

His mother

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Krolia arrives at their house the following quintant and is eagerly greeted at the front door by a familiar face from the Blade of Marmora. Sergeant Bars, Acxa’s Aide-de-Camp, is more than happy to see her. “Krolia, thank the Spirits you are here. Please, if there is anything you can do to convince the Empress to let us help her with the children, please do it. I’m afraid she’s going to drop dead from exhaustion.”

Entering the house and seeing the chaos for herself, she hands a tablet to the distressed Bars. “Transmit this message right away. I need the recipient of this message here immediately.”

Sergeant Bars eagerly acts to complete Krolia’s request. “I will personally deliver this message and bring her here myself. I’ll drag her here if I have to.”

Krolia gives him a reassuring look. “Don’t worry, Bars. Once she reads that, you won’t have to drag her here.”

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Krolia rushes into the nursery and helps Acxa and Keith get the children changed and ready for bed. She uses the fact that she is the girl’s grandmother to convince Acxa to let her help. But not before Acxa and Keith get into yet another argument over getting a Dayak to at least let Acxa get some sleep.

“For the one millionth time, no! We are not getting a Dayak! You took the only one I would even remotely consider and made her the Archivist!”

“Because she’s the only one qualified for that position! There are plenty of others who could take care of the girls.”

“Really? Name one.”

“Well…uh…”

“Uh huh. I thought so. Keith, no one is raising our daughters except us, and that’s final!”

For Krolia, this argument is the last straw. Settling the children down for a nap, she emerges to find Keith and Acxa nose to nose in a continuation of their disagreement.

“Enough!”

Hearing the commanding tone in Krolia’s voice, Keith and Acxa freeze in place.

Narrowing her eyes and setting her jaw, Krolia grabs her son and daughter-in-law by the scruff of their necks and leads them to a sofa. She tosses Keith down on one end of the sofa while firmly planting Acxa on the other end.

“Sit! Now…what the hell is going on here?”

When they both start to speak at once, Krolia raises her hands to stop them. “One at a time. Acxa…you first.”

“You want to know what the problem is? I’ll tell you what the problem is. I am here…by myself…trying to raise two small children. I wasn’t sure, until I got pregnant, that I would even be able to have children. But now that they are here, Keith and I are going to be the ones to raise them. Keith thinks I’m exhausted and can’t handle it by myself. I don’t know how he came to that conclusion since HE’S NEVER HERE TO HELP ME!”

“What? I help!”

“Oh, come on, Keith! Your duties as Emperor keep you at the palace or at Parliament. Yes, you help me a little in the evenings, but other than those three vargas, if I’m lucky, the girls and I don’t get to see you. Honestly, those girls are going to grow up and you’re going to miss it!”

Acxa’s words cut Keith deeply. “I’m…I’m sorry…”

Acxa crosses her arms and pouts. “You say that a lot lately. Look, I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just trying to be the best mother I can be to our girls. Just like my mother was for me. Don’t you want to be a good father to them?”

Keith hangs his head in guilt, staring at the floor. “I…I had no idea…” He turns in the sofa to look his wife squarely in the eye. “I want to be a good father to our girls. The way my father was good for me. I want to be here more, please believe that. But I feel trapped between my duties to the Galra Republic and to my family. Remember how you told me, before we climbed the steps of the Kral Zera together, that we needed to eliminate the caste system so our girls could grow up and be judged by who they are as people and not by who their parents are?1 Everything I’m doing…I thought I was doing it for them. For my girls. I never meant to hurt them…or hurt you.”

Krolia stands in front of them as she crosses her arms and looks first to Keith, then to Acxa. “This is worse than I thought. Ok kids look at me. This is Grandma Krolia about to get real with you two.”

“Acxa, I didn’t know your mother, but I know what it’s like to be the mother of a newborn. You were too young to remember your mother when you were an infant, and when you were old enough you only saw her from the viewpoint of a child. You didn’t see the frustrations and the tears your mother shed because she didn’t know how to take care of a child. News flash, it wasn’t as easy for her to raise you as you think. Children don’t come with instruction manuals.”

“Keith. You did not see the tears and the frustrations your father went through. I did. And let me tell you son, your father was a big, rugged, tough man who was reduced to tears by a 9-pound newborn. It was tough on him. It was tough on me. There were days when we both wanted to run away or bang our heads against the wall. There were days when we screamed at each other.”

“But then you would settle down and go sleep in our arms. Or you would look at us and laugh or make silly cooing sounds. You reminded us why we decided to have a child.”

“You see, the frustrations and the fears of having a child will always be there. They will change and evolve as the decaphoebs pass but they will never go away. You must remind yourselves that the Supreme Spirit entrusted the two of you with not only bringing these girls into the world, but with raising them to be good people as well. Because let me tell you, the joys of parenthood far outweigh the frustrations in the long run. No matter how big or sassy your children get, in your minds eye they will always be the little ones who looked up to mommy and daddy for love and guidance.

“No matter how old, Mom?”

“No matter how old you get, Keith, you will always be that squiggly little boy who brought so much joy and happiness into my life. Let me give you one piece of advice, son. Your wife is right. Don’t get so busy that you don’t see and experience your children growing up. If that happens you will regret it for the rest of your life. You do have responsibilities as an adult, and one of the most important responsibilities you have is to your family.”

“You make time for important matters of government, right? Well, your family is just as important as any governmental matter you can handle. Make time for them. Make quality time for them. And that includes your wife. Do not neglect her.”

“Acxa, that goes for you too. Do not neglect your husband. You two are a team. You love each other. Don’t forget that. Don’t ever lose sight of what binds the two of you together.”

“So, kids, here’s what’s going to happen. You two are going to spend the next movement at the lodge on Earth. BY YOURSELVES! You will clear your heads and forget about things here for a movement. You will remind yourselves why you chose each other as life partners, in every way imaginable. You will come back with a fresh perspective and you will work together to raise my granddaughters. With my help!”

“But Krolia, we can’t just leave like that. You can’t take care of two infants by yourself!”

“I don’t intend to. I plan on having an expert help me.”

“Who?”

From the entrance to the parlor comes another familiar voice. “I believe she would be referring to me.”

Keith’s Aunt Miara enters the room.

“Sorry Krolia, I got here as fast as I could.” Miara stands next to Krolia and looks to Keith and Acxa.

“Keith, Acxa, I heard what Krolia told you, and I agree with all of it. But I don’t want you to worry. I raised twin daughters. Believe me, I remember what that was like, and I learned a few tricks along the way. I’ll be happy to share them with you two.”

“Acxa, I know you insist that your girls be raised by you and Keith and not by a Dayak. I get it, and I respect your wishes. But sweetie there is no harm in asking family to help you.”

“But…Mom had no one to help her…she did it on her own.”

“My Dad didn’t either…sorry Mom, no offense, I know you had to leave…but they are our children and it is our job as parents to raise them.”

“It is your job as parents to raise your children to the best of your ability…and it is sad that your parents were forced to raise the two of you alone. But you two don’t have to do it alone. You are part of a family that loves you. Krolia and I are mothers. We will never stop being mothers no matter how old our children get. And we will both be damned if we sit by and do nothing while our children, or our nieces and nephews, suffer. Especially when there is something we can do about it.”

Krolia crosses her arms and speaks sternly to Keith and Acxa. “Now that matters are settled here, you two go pack your bags.”

“Now!”

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That evening, Keith and Acxa leave for the lodge on Earth.

It takes them both three quintants to relax, unwind, and get used to the fact that Grandma Krolia and Great Aunt Miara have the children well under control.

On the night of the third quintant, they sit on the deck, stargazing. Something they have not done since the children were born.

Acxa silently reflects on the night she claimed Keith as her life partner. Keith does the same as he queues up the same music mix he played that night. She snuggles close to him, purring contentedly.

“Hmmm…Keith…remember what happened the last time we were here, and you played that music.”

“I do seem to recall you got a bit…frisky…and to be honest, I’m hoping the same thing happens again.”

Acxa stands and pulls her husband up to her

“Oh, don’t worry, big boy…it will. This night is just getting started…”

1 The Seven Paladins, Chapter 14 The End is the Beginning

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